National Archives Museum in Washington Tickets and Tours

Among the things to see and do in Washington DC, one of the most important is to visit the National Archives Museum, which is home to the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and 15 billion other records.

Located next to the National Mall, very close to the best monuments of Washington DC and whose visit can be combined with a visit to the Capitol, this museum is one of the most important in the American capital, as it holds the memory of the founding of the country and the national archives of its short but intense history.

The most complete option

Washington DC National Archives Guided Tour

A guided tour in a private group to discover all the secrets of the National Archives Museum.

Discover the history of the United States and its documentary memory on a two-hour tour of the museum with the assistance of an expert local guide.

From £84 at Hellotickets

On this tour you will discover the main documents of the National Archives Museum and the history behind them all. On this two-hour tour of one of the best museums in Washington DC, you will understand how the power of the United States was built in a short period of time.

This private group tour with an expert local guide will take you through the museum' s more than 15 billion archives, making it the largest documentary repository in the country.

Recommended if... You are interested in discovering the history of the United States and the secrets of its founding.

Admission to the National Archives Museum in Washington DC is free, although at the time of booking or upon entry, you will be required to pay the non-refundable token fee of 1 euro for service charges, a custom that also applies to visits to other attractions and museums in Washington DC.

Reservations are also not required to tour this museum, so you could go directly on the day of your visit, although I recommend that you reserve your place at the museum and schedule your visit in advance, especially if you plan to travel to Washington DC during the summer or during the months of March through May.

Please note that tours can be booked 90 days in advance, so if you plan to organise an itinerary to tour Washington DC, you have plenty of time to do so.

• Price... Admission to the museum is free.
• Location... 701 Constitution Ave, Washington.
• Hours.... Every day from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.

Tickets to the National Archives Museum are free, so they are not segmented and there are no different types of tickets. You can book your tickets in advance online or go directly to the museum, in both cases you will pay the nominal fee of 1 euro.

There are no skip-the-line tickets to the museum, so if you plan to visit Washington DC in April or during peak season months, I recommend that you book in advance to avoid long waits.

Because of the museum's location near the National Mall, some of the Washington DC bike tours or monument tours also offer a guided tour of the National Archives Museum.

Admission to the National Archives Museum is free, so it is not included in the Washington Sightseeing Pass, although it does include other nearby tours, so if you book it you can make the most of it by touring the museum on your own after a nearby visit.

Near the National Mall you can visit the International Spy Museum, which is included in the Sightseeing Pass, or the Madame Tussauds DC Museum, which features wax sculptures of all the presidents in U.S. history.

The Washington Sightseeing Pass also includes bike tours of the National Mall and nighttime scenic bus tours of the city, which is one of the best things to do in Washington DC at night.

You can buy the Washington Sightseeing Pass for 1, 2 or 3 days and use it indefinitely at the 15+ attractions included during its validity or buy the Flex Pass for 1, 2 or 4 attractions within 60 days. With either option of the Sightseeing Pass you can save money and time by skipping the queues at most attractions.

Admission is free and there are no different types of tickets, so they do not include the guided tour, although it is possible to book a guided tour of the National Archives Museum in Washington DC.

It's definitely worth the assistance of a knowledgeable local guide to get the most out of the museum and learn about its secrets and the best exhibits in its collection, including the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Like a visit to Washington DC's war memorials, the National Archives Museum takes on a whole new meaning when you take a guided tour of the museum without missing a single detail.

If you are visiting Washington DC with children, you can visit the National Archives Museum, not because there are special or discounted tickets for children, but because all admission is free.

However, a visit to this museum may not be of great interest to children, as all of its exhibits consist of archival documents and an in-depth look at the history of the United States.

For a kid-friendly experience, I recommend a visit to the White House and its stories, a tour of the city's Smithsonian Museum or a food tour of Washington DC

While tickets are free and can be purchased at the box office just before your visit, the National Archives Museum requires visitors to indicate the date and time of their tour when booking online , so to avoid hassle I recommend that you book your place online.

If you are planning to visit Washington DC at Christmas or during peak tourist months, I also recommend that you book in advance to avoid queues at the ticket office.

Note that if you book tickets online in advance, you will not need to print tickets or pick them up anywhere, but can instead present your ticket from your mobile phone or other digital media, in order to reduce pollution and paper waste.

The National Archives Museum in Washington DC is open daily from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm, giving you ample time to combine your visit with other activities.

If you plan to take a morning cruise on the Potomac River in Washington DC or a tour of Georgetown, you can easily tour the museum in the afternoon, as admission is open until 4:30 pm, one hour before closing time.

You are free to tour the National Archives Museum and there is no set visiting time, but if you take a guided tour you will be able to see the entire museum in approximately 2 hours.

This guided tour includes a visit to the best documents in the archives, a look at the history of the founding of the United States and a tour of the architecture, which is one of the most classic in Washington DC.

If you are planning a short stay in the city, a guided tour could help you optimise your time and focus your visit on the best objects in the museum. If that's the case, here's a list of things to see and do in Washington DC during a 2-day visit.

If you plan to visit Washington DC during the autumn, you'll be in the city during the best time to visit the National Archives Museum.

During these months, the tourist crow ds are noticeably less crow ded and you can stroll around the city in a more leisurely fashion and enjoy the museums with less crowds.

During the fall you can even get same-day tickets at the box office and find better prices for guided tours and other tours of the city.

The National Archives Museum is located in an area adjacent to the National Mall, near the White House, the Capitol and the George Washington Monument, so any means of transportation that will get you there will be useful for getting to the museum.

The most common option is to use bus 38B and then combine with bus 33 to Constitution Ave.

You can also opt for bus 32 and 36 and then walk three blocks to the museum's front door or you can take one ofWashington DC 'shop-on-hop-off tour buses, which have a stop in front of the museum.

You can also visit the site if you have rented a car or are driving a private vehicle, although given the limited parking space, I would advise against approaching the National Mall area by car.

At the National Archives Museum in Washington DC you can learn about America's rich history through the country's documentary memory, such as the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and Federalist Papers.

You'll also be able to visit the public vaults that house the massive granite figures of George Washington and John F. Kennedy, see the original Emancipation Proclamation that led to the elimination of slavery and a copy of the Magna Carta of 1297.

A guided tour of the National Archives Museum will also give you an insight into the reasons why Washington DC is considered a city of mysteries and secrets and how the United States became an unprecedented world power in such a short period of time.

The National Archives Museum is one of the best museums in Washington DC, so the first thing I advise you to do is to visit it to learn how the United States preserves its documentary history, as well as some of the most important archives on which the country's democratic principles are based.

I also recommend that you take the time to get to know it, as it has more than 15 billion documentary archives that, without a doubt, you won't be able to know in their entirety, although you will be able to go through them in broad strokes.

If you have the chance, it is best to take a guided tour, which lasts approximately 2 hours, so that the most important information in the museum can be explained to you.

If you plan to travel to Washington DC during the summer months or during the high season or Christmas, I advise you to book your ticket online in advance, which you can do up to 90 days before your visit to secure your place and avoid queues and unnecessary delays.